Help needed--Windows XP Professional

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Larry H

New member
I am running Windows XP Professional on a Dell Latitude D600-1.6Gh

The computer has slowed down a lot lately and I have cleaned out history, cache, and cookies, but it is still slow.

Windows Task Manager shows about 65 processes running, about twice what it used to show.

I think I once knew how to set which programs and processes open and run when the computer is booted up, but I cannot figure it out now.

Can anyone help?
 
Larry – click on Start then Run and type msconfig in the window and click OK

The System configuration window will open with seven tabs at the top. Click on the startup tab.

Here you will see a list of most programs starting automatically when windows starts. Here and throughout this post I refer to programs or services as programs.

Expand the command column and location column so you can see all text in them. Sometimes the name will tell you what the program is. Un-check those items you don’t want starting automatically then restart the computer and try it. If you don’t know what the program is, you can post the command line here and I will tell you what it is and does. You can experiment by un-checking an item to see what happens, but you will have to restart the computer each time. If it is something you find you want to start automatically, just re-check the item and restart.

If you have a lot of items listed, more than eight to ten, I would say you have too much starting in the background. I have three on my XP Machine. The one you do not want to stop is your antivirus program.

Once you determine the programs you don’t want to start in the background you should stop them other than here. Each program usually has a way of stopping it but it may take hours to figure out, so the best way is to delete them from your startup folder and registry. The location column will tell you where to go to delete its startup command line. While the System Configuration command will stop them, it is not the proper way to do it. It is OK for testing but should not be used to permanently stop them.

If you don’t know how to edit your registry let me know and I can post easy to follow directions for you.

The Services tab at the top of the Configuration window will show the services that are running. If you want to stop some of the un-necessary services let me know and I can help here also. I tweaked my XP machine around three years ago and it has never ever crashed and will startup in just over 30 seconds and is fast.

Two of the biggest resource hogs are Apple and Adobe products. Both think if you ever want to use their programs, it should always run in the background. Both can be stopped, but if they are updated an auto start line will be added again and I have had some of their applications add an auto start line every time you use it.

If you need more detailed help let me know.

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Dave dlt.gif
 
I agree and add
run AVG free and perform full scan
run Ad-aware to cleanup malware
run CCleaner to clean up IE, browser files and misc junk files. It always has MSconfig features and is free
run Defrag and Error checking on each HD from the Drive Properties. This will check the HD for bad sectors, etc. I recommend then full surface scan, too.

You can use System Restore to roll back to an earlier System restore point

or consider a clean install of XP and programs I am sad to say last
 
Dave,

I am applying some of your recommendations and I have some improvement.

Brent,

I already have and do what you suggested.

Thanks,

Larry H
 
Larry – a couple of other things you can do are to delete all your windows/program temporary files and your temporary internet files.

You will find the first in the following location C:\Documents and Settings\your_name_or_however_you_sign_on\Application Data\Local Settings\Temp.

Delete everything in this folder. Before you do delete the files and folders, close all programs. Disregard any warning that pops up cautioning you about a read only file or program file. Delete everything in the Temp folder. If you get a message that a file cannot be deleted, un-check it and delete the others. Sometimes there are one or two files that windows is using and you cannot delete it. If you have more than three or four files that cannot be deleted, you have a virus or something else going on in your computer.

If your Temp folder does not show up at the following location, then in Windows Explorer (My Computer), click on Tools, then Folder Options. On the window that pops up, click on the View Tab. About the middle of the list select Show hidden files and folders. Un-check Hide extensions for known file types.

Now scroll to near the bottom of the list and check Display Control Panel in My Computer.

Click on Apply then the button near the top of the window click on Apply to All Folders. Then close the window. Your Temp folder should be visible now. If it is not, on the menu click on View then Refresh.

Next in Control Panel (it is now displayed in Windows Explorer after your drives) click on Internet Options then click on the Advanced Tab. Scroll to near the bottom of the list and check the Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed. Now open your Internet Browser and close it and your temporary internet files will be deleted. This will speed up your browsing speed unless you are on a slow dialup connection. If you have a large buildup of temp files, it may take a minute or more for the computer to delete all of them.
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Dave dlt.gif
 
try this
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysi ... fault.aspx

and check
Check Your IDE Port Mode

First check what mode your secondary IDE port is currently working in. Go to Device Manager: right-click on My Computer, select Properties, click on the Hardware tag, click on the Device Manager button, click on the plus sign to the left of IDE ATA/ATAPI Controller, double-click on the secondary IDE channel, click on Extended Settings and check whether it is set to DMA when available. Directly underneath that setting is a grey field that shows the actual working mode of your IDE channel. You want the highest possible DMA or Ultra DMA mode there, and you definitely don't want PIO mode.

If the Extended Settings tab is not there, perhaps another driver is used, probably from the manufacturer of the IDE ATAPI controller. You can still perform a simple test. In the Task Manager activate the option View, Show kernel times. Then put a high load on the device, for example by copying a large file, and check whether the kernel times are minimal (red line). If you observe considerable kernel times, roughly around half of the total load, then the device is running in PIO mode, which is bad. The whole purpose of the DMA mode is to reliev
http://winhlp.com/node/10e the processor (in kernel mode) of this load.
 
Larry, Thanks for bringing this up, and Dave, Brent and Tyboo for the good advice. I am going to print this off and then try it. This might be scarry, but will go one step at a time and see if we can't do some PC resuscitation.

Harvey
SleepyC
 
Brent,

The microsoft link is way above my computer tech level.

I did check IDE port mode and it's fine.

I have only had limited success with msconfig. A couple of deletions caused a crash and I had to use 'restore'.

This business of every minor program wanting to run on startup and wanting to call home for updates is really getting annoying.

Is there any way to tell the computer (as opposed to telling each program) not to load and run all these minor programs at every startup and not to 'call home' looking for updates (or reporting cookie contents)?

It seems like there ought to be an easier way than msconfig with its 'secret' codes.

I have set microsoft updates to 'advise only, don't download' mode.

I am going into BC Canada where I have to pay $2.00 per MB for broadband card usage and I really don't want to pay to allow each program to 'call home' and check in.

I have already told my friends and family not to send fwds, jokes, photos or any large files. Last year I got a 3MB joke(that wasn't even funny). That not-so-funny cost me $6.00!! :amgry
 
Larry - Windows never worked properly and still doesn't. Look at all the hoops people want you to jump through! Not necessary at all. The problem is Windows itself.

Answer #1 - get a Mac. Pricey, but sure-fire. There is no "Apple premium," only a "Windows discount"!

Answer #2 - install Ubuntu 9.04, a free download, on you existing computer. You can install it as your only OS, or you can install it for dual boot, if you have to hang on to Windows for some reason. No more degraded performance, no more buffer overflow exploits, no more security patches du jour. Ubuntu is ready for prime time, why not give it a try, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain!

Our house is a Windows-free zone, and we couldn't be happier. Truly, the Emperor has no clothes!
 
Larry – if your computer crashed after un-checking something in the Startup tab of msconfig, there is something wrong with your computer. There is nothing in the Startup tab that is necessary to run windows.

The link Brent gave you may be your best bet, but now will you have another program starting in the background to monitor the programs that start in the background?

Pat – I agree windows takes a learning curve. The biggest problem is people clicking on OK or Yes when some software wants to install itself. This is not a windows problem, it is a user problem.

About two years ago, I installed Ubuntu 6 on a computer and Windows XP Pro on an identical computer. I am familiar with windows so I was able to tweak it to my specifications. Ubuntu was not easy to install or setup but after much work, I got it going. I tried to do the same on both computers and run similar programs. Windows would start 10% faster, shut down 15% faster and it never crashed or locked up. Its OS was faster than Ubuntu in almost all aspects. I liked Ubuntu, it was a solid OS but did occasionally crash and when it crashed it was worse than a Windows crash and the same when it locked up. There were many things I could not do with Ubuntu that I could do with Windows. I did all the security updates and software updates for both computers. I updated the OS on the Ubuntu computer all the way to, but not including version 9. I spent a lot of time on the Ubuntu forms learning the OS and eventually was able to tweak the system to the point where it seldom crashed, but seldom is more than never. I was never able to get it to perform like the Windows machine. I eventually uninstalled Ubuntu and installed XP on it and gave it to a friend. Now I am trying Vista Ultimate and so far I do not like Vista nearly as much as XP. It would crash or lock up too much of the time. I have the crashing part taken care of but it still locks up temporarily, but always seems to fix itself.
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Dave dlt.gif
 
I agree with Dave.
You might need to be remove and reinstall apps (poor mans wipe and clean)
It is difficult to pinpoint the problem and time consuming, too
It could be hardward (HD, video, MB, CPU over heating, memory module, etc) or software (same memory address being accessed by 2 or more programs, rogue or bad dll, etc)
Antivirus programs can be cause issues. I am back to using free AVG after using Threatfire, Panda Cloud and PC tools cloud along with Ad Ware. I turn off AV when not connected to net


Since you pay by usage, consider browsing web pages without images and running scripts. It is much faster. For email, just setup pop/smtp config and download messages without attachments, leave messages on the server then work offline. Outlook Express is the basic (means it is ok) but there are several email clients better for this purpose. I continue to do this when using dialup and on business trips. Read the messages, reply, delete, etc and sync later.
This is just the basics and there is tons of info on the net on living on dialup, surfing in the slow lane. Most of the time I dont need the "RICH" internet experience just the functionally of being connected plus when I travel with an old XP SLOOOW notebook or G3 SLOOOOW ibook so if they are lost, stolen and or damaged I dont care. I can always pull the HD and retrieve the files

Someday I will have broadband wireless access (maybe) but there are thousands of free wifi hotspots that I can access today


off my soapbox
 
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